United Against Unions

As support for civil unions for gay couples continues to build at the state Capitol, critics say it's time for the state's voters to have a say.

A coalition of religious groups kicked off a campaign Wednesday to mobilize opposition to a bill that would allow the unions between same-sex partners. The goal of their effort is to force a statewide referendum on the issue.

``The indispensable good of family to society is eroded when civil unions between same-sex couples are considered equivalent to marriage,'' Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell said at a Capitol press conference Wednesday. ``This initiative is advancing with no attempt to determine the will of the people.''

Led by the Connecticut Catholic Conference and the Family Institute of Connecticut, the coalition will continue to lobby the legislature. But as part of a campaign dubbed ``Let the People Decide,'' it will also make its case directly to state residents through newspaper and radio ads, direct mail, phone banks and a rally at the Capitol on April 24.

Although many religious denominations are deeply divided on the issue of gay marriage, the coalition includes rabbis, Protestant ministers, African American clergy and Roman Catholic leaders as well as community leaders.

At the press conference, Bishop Leroy Bailey of The First Cathedral in Bloomfield railed against ``the few chosen representatives [who] arbitrarily take the power away from the people.''

The legislature's judiciary committee last month endorsed civil unions by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1. The measure still needs the approval of the full House and Senate and the governor's signature, but even critics believe it has a good chance of becoming law this year. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell has expressed support for the concept of civil unions.

Mansell and other critics would like Connecticut to join the 13 states that have approved constitutional provisions banning same-sex marriage. But acknowledging that the legislature is unlikely to allow that to happen, the critics said they would settle for a nonbinding referendum on state-sanctioned unions of gay couples, whether in the form of marriage or civil unions.

``I think the people should be heard on an issue as important as this,'' said Senate Republican leader Louis C. DeLuca of Woodbury, one of three lawmakers who attended Wednesday's press conference.

DeLuca proposed the referendum, which would be held in the fall, to gauge public support for civil unions. ``It would be nonbinding, but I would expect legislators would listen,'' he said.

If a vote were held, opponents of gay marriage expressed confidence that they would prevail. They touted the results of a new poll, jointly commissioned by the Catholic conference and the Family Institute, which shows broad resistance to changing the state's marriage laws.

The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, asked if marriage should be defined as a union between one man and one woman. About 78 percent of the respondents said they ``totally agree'' with that statement. Completed in late February, the poll had a margin of error of 4.9 percent.

The poll did not directly address the issue of civil unions, but opponents said they see such unions as marriage by another name.

A University of Connecticut poll conducted last year showed a more divided public. In that survey, 74 percent of Connecticut residents said they supported a law to allow same-sex couples to legally form civil unions. But when asked about gay marriage, 49 percent supported the idea, and 46 percent were opposed.

Anne Stanback, president of Love Makes a Family, a coalition of gay rights groups, dismissed the poll released Wednesday. ``Everybody understands the way you ask a poll question determines the results,'' she said. ``Love Makes a Family commissioned a poll that got almost the opposite results.''

Stanback rejected calls for a referendum, even if the results are advisory.

``Their new slogan seems to be `Let the People Decide' but that's not the way we make laws in Connecticut,'' she said. ``Controversial issues are debated every day at the Capitol. We don't have a form of government that allows for each one of them to be voted on.''